rdiness and adaptability of the shellbark,
combined with the thin shell, the excellent cracking qualities, and the
pleasant flavors of the pecan. Here is a truly attractive field. The
fact that returns may be rather slow in maturing should not deter the
plant breeder, for sometimes prizes come quickly. Of course the field is
one which appeals more strongly to the institution of indefinite life
tenure than to the individual whose years of activity are relatively
brief.

What nature has done in the way of extending the range of the pecan
northward has been clearly set forth in the excellent paper presented by
Mr. Littlepage. This indigenous movement from the natural zone of the
pecan towards the North and East has undoubtedly been infinitely slow.
The important fact has been established, however, that not only has
nature extended the natural range in the directions indicated, but Mr.
Littlepage has shown that here and there a variety of exceptional merit
has appeared, fortuitously and without assistance or guidance from man.
These superior varieties are being placed under observation by
interested nut enthusiasts like Messrs. Littlepage, Niblack, and McCoy,
and others, who are not only studying the nut in its native haunts, but
are experimenting with methods of propagation so that we may confidently
look forward to a stable supply of these natural selections in the years
near at hand.

Here, then, we have the material for founding new races of northern nuts
by combining them with our best hardy hickories. Who will gainsay the
prophecy that not far distant is the day when we may expect new hybrid
strains of great economical importance arising from the union of our
northern hickories with the most northerly forms of the pecan? Shall we
designate these hybrids as "shellcans," "shagcans," or "hickcans," after
the nomenclatural methods of present day plant breeders? The splendid
work of our President in the interbreeding of northern types of nuts
gives us strong hope to expect results of this nature.

In the matter of propagation we have learned certain essential
fundamentals. First and most important is the firmly established fact
that southern, pecan stocks are unsafe and generally unreliable in the
region of the northern hickory. We must grow our own stocks from
northern nuts. We must propagate by using home grown material
exclusively, and as to methods of propagation, it is probable that we
can follow in general the pra